My guys... sorry for the long wait but this story accidentally got erased so I had to restart it. It was a setback but I promise you, this work will not get abandoned . Still working on writing so some scenes might be a bit hard to understand but hey I'm trying atleast. Enjoy my guys. Also can't wait for the raider rework :).

"ATTAAACCCKKK!!!"

The roar came from one of the captains as the armored grunts ran towards Den and Ito. The peacekeeper known as Roxanne oversaw the fray as the army made their advances towards the two dancers. Den and Ito were preparing themselves for the battle that was upon them. It seems that they couldn't run out of this one.

Ito was prepared fully but Den was having some issues. Den was fine for the most part but he was having some bit of doubt as he began to lean down more than usual. He fought through injuries many times so taking on the small grunts will be no promblem but he was worried that the captains fighting as a group could take him down. His doubt however did not go unnoticed.

"Den are you alright? You seemed to be troubled by something."

"I'm fine. Just don't get in my way, my axes thirst for revenge from that slithering snake who shot me."

He said as he rushed into the fray with no regard for his very being. This was combat style of the Beserker, free and wild. The way how he fought was just so mesmerizing to watch as he twist and turned and strikes at any opposition. It was especially amazing to watch for Ito as she admired one of the qualities that was so appealing to her. His style was just so amazing to watch as it was something she has never seen before.

"Oh my sweet boar.~"

She said to herself but was quickly thrown out of that thought as she heard the irked grunts of the Viking dancer. She looked up to see that he was dodging and blocking the attacks of the captains. The grunts were clearly taken care of due to the dismembered corpse on the snowy terrain. Den was not one to give up easily as he taunted his opposition.

"Your knights are about as weak as the armor on your backs! I got you all right where I wan- Argh!"

Den"s taunt was cut short as one of the captains pushed him to the ground with the hilt of his sword while the other stopped him from flipping back up with his armored boot.

"Silence you mongrel!"

"Make me then cowards!"

The captain said nothing as he nodded to the other who unsheathed his long sword. It was clear what he was going to do as he raised the sword above his head in a cutting manner. Den tried his best to wiggle free but it was no use. It seems that his fate was sealed.

Before the blade could make any contact with Den, it was firmly yanked out of his hand by some force behind him. He turned around and was met with a brutal kick in the face by Ito. The captain fell down while slipping into an unconscious state as the others took notice of their fallen comrade, Den decided to take this distraction as an advantage and reached for one of his twin axes. He was successful and used his weapon to chop the captains boot clean off that held him down.

Slice!

"Argh!!!!"

The captain let out a growl of pain as he fell to the ground due to the absence of his foot. Den quickly flipped himself up as he rejoined with Ito to battle these threats. He was a bit more closer than he expected as he was literally bumping shoulders with her to which she teased him about it.

"You sure you don't want to get closer.~?"

"I'm only doing this because they outnumbered me by a good amount and your the only one here who doesn't want kill me. You can go ahead and take care of the people I don't slaughter."

The two dancers were ready as the captains began to charge towards them with their swords drawn. It was basically a one sided battle as Den and Ito killed the rest of them without mercy. However, Den got to thinking as him and Ito continued to slay the knights.

"Why are you always doing this?!" He said as he chopped off the head of a captain and sliced the arm of another.

"Doing what!?" She replied as she sliced the neck of a knight and kicked another into the freezing water.

"Always helping me! I clearly had them! I just needed more time is all!" He clarified as he dropped kick a captain into another.

"Well, you were injured and outnumbered so it made sense for me to help you and besides..."

She paused as she threw her scythes towards Den who was cleaning up another captain. He was preparing to duck out the way but found out that he wasn't the intended target as he turned around to see a knight ready to strike from behind him. The body fell down with a thud as the weapon retracted back to Ito.

"We make a good team don't we?"

As much Den hated to admit that, he looked over the battle field and saw nonthing but the fallen bodies of their enemies. He might've been one of them if it wasn't for her. The two dancers locked eyes for a bit until a voice broke them out of their moment.

"Enough of this!"

The two dancers put all of there attention towards the leader of the group. The peacekeeper finally joined the fray and the dancers were more prepared for this fight. The peacekeepers are known to be very lethal and are the most cunning of all the knights. Roxanne unsheathed her sword and dagger and took a low stance as she analyzed the two dancers.

"I'll simply deal with you two until our reinforcements arrive. So...which one of you are going to fall before my blades?"

Den stood up to the challenge as he sharpened his axes. It seems that he wanted to take her on first

"I still owe you for that bolt to my side! Prepare to die coward!"

Den was about to charge until a familiar hand to his shoulder stopped him.

"What now!?"

"Your still a bit injured, maybe it's better if I-"

Den said nonthing as he shrugged her off and charged straight at Roxanne. He showed no fear as Roxanne simply waited for him to strike, completely disregarding Itos warning. He performed an overhead attack which was countered by her dashing underneath him, allowing for an easy stab to his abdomen

The quickly separated as she backed up to control the space between them. Den felt the stab but didn't let the pain deter him as he went in for a side slash which produced the same resul: she's out of range while he took another stab. This was the style of a peacekeeper; avoid getting hit or stacked and simply use their missed attack to their advantage. Roxanne knew she couldn't face off against Den toe to toe so she had to accommodate for that.

"Cmon dog! You have yet to even lay a hair on me!" She said as she adorned her bloodstained dagger. Nonthing was more fun to her than playing with prey.

"Keep talking and I'll chop your mouth off first when I end you!"

This went on for four times and nonthing has changed. Den has more stab wounds while Roxanne has yet to be injured and anyway. Den could've been dead by now but Roxanne decided to only stab the nonvital areas just to toy with him. Ito was not enjoying the sight of her partner getting injured when this could've been avoided.

"I grow tired of this. It's time I finish you."

"I'd like to see you try!"

Den said as he charged in for an attack only to have himself be interrupted by Ito as she sprinted ahead of him blocked his way. Ito had a feeling that the knight was going to end his life if they clashed again. It was her time to fight now.

"Fight me instead."

"What are you doing Ito!? It's my fight not yours!"

Ito quickly turned around and Den was completely powerless to the sight of her emerald pools.

"You're at a clear disadvantage due to your injury, it's best if you take care of the reinforcements she was talking about. It'll be better for the both of us."

Den was about to just shove her out the way but his wounds along with that information discouraged him from doing so. Maybe it's best if he actually follows what Ito said.

"Fine. But this doesn't me-"

"I love you too.~"

"What!? Where did yo-"

"There they are! Kill them!"

Den didn't have enough time to explain himself as he was about to be swarmed by more grunt and low skilled soldiers. He decided to get back on what Ito said later as he went to hold them off leaving the two warriors to fight. After a few seconds of staring each other down, the two femal warriors began to clash. Den could only imagine how the fight was going as he continued to slay the hoard of grunts coming his way.

The dueling warriors traded strike for strike as the tried to stay on the aggressive towards each other. Standing and waiting would be a death sentence for both of them so constantly attacking and moving would be better for both of them.

Clang!

"A pity your pet won't be here to witness your demise heathen!"

Clack!

"He's not my pet, he's my partner!"

Ting!

"I find that hard to believe! It's as if he doesn't want anything to do with yo-"

Stab!

"Argh!"

Roxanne was interrupted by a sharp pain in her hand as she dropped her dagger. She clearly was at a disadvantage as she lost her primary source of damage along with fighting an angered shinobi. She analyzed the situation as she saw her troops getting slaughtered by one injured Viking. It was time for her to take her leave along with the other breathing troops. They clearly lost the battle this night but they were not going to lose the war.

"I hope you and your pet rot in hell for what you've done here! We'll be back and we'll have your heads for this heathens! Troops retreat!"

She said as the troops began to fall back along with her. She hoped that the Roman backup will be more useful than these pitiful excuses for soldiers. Den was not going to let her go so easily.

"Oh no you don't! We're finishing this now!"

Den said as he was running after her only to be tripped by familiar chains. He looked up to see a stern Ito as he unchained his legs. He was furious to say the least.

"You just love to stop me dont you!? She's injured so it's the perfect time for me to strike! What about my reveng!?"

"You can get your revenge when you're at full strength but we have to split for now. I'm sure both of our clans will be alerted by all the commotion we caused especially now since the knights joined."

Her point rang true as he heard the familiar sayings of his Viking clan along with the sayings which sounded Japanese. It was clear that Ito and Den had to separate as soon as possible now that the two clans were beginning to approach the area, along with a battle of the two clans saw each other. As he was about to quickly run out of sight a hand stopped him again.

"You're starting to irritate m-"

"Thanks for saving me earlier. It's seems that you do care about me. I'll see you around my lovely boar.~"

She said as she quickly kissed his cheek and disappeared as if she was never even there. Den stood there shocked as he never really thought of the reason why he pushed her out of the way. This women he met has been having some kind of effect on him and he just doesn't know what to do with it. With his thoughts quickly losing its grasp, he retreated through an alternate path that would lead him away from the commotion.

The two dancers were able to make it back to their village safely as they awaited the news of their work.

The next day

"Alright my brothers and sisters, we need to come up with something to counter our foes. It's going to be a tough time trying to secure land from the Samurai and the Knights so we need a plan."

Sigurd held a meeting with his best men and woman to figure out what would be the next step to securing land from the two opposing forces. This meeting consisted of Den, Eitri and Aslaug since the reinforcements had yet to arrive. Aslaug decides to state her opinion on the matter as she stood up. The rest of the council assumed that her plan might be a bit far fetched.

"How about we put a hex on both of them. They'll regret the day they mess with the dark arts of a Shaman. I will need a little help from all of you though."

Sigurd sighed as he already knew what she was going to suggest.

"Does it include the sacrifice of our limbs?"

Aslaug said nonthing as she sat back down. She had a feeling that her idea was going to be rejected like usual. It was now Eitri's turn as he took a while to stand up.

"How about we go fight them right now while they're still gathering troops.? What's a couple samurai and knights to the might power of the Vikings!?"

Sigurd was brave but even he knew his limitations.

"So you want the four of us to possibly take on hordes of Samurai and Knights by ourselves with no help from anyone?"

Eitri began to run his hand through his beard as he thought about it..

"Well... when you put it like that-"

"Den, do you have any ideas?"

Sigurd said as Den was knocked out of his thought. He was a bit startled as he came back to reality and his sight was filled with his companions awaiting an answer from him.

"Ideas on what?" He asked.

"On how to deal with the cowards and demons! Have you been paying attention to our meeting short one!"

Den took offense to that.

"I have been listening you ankle biter!"

"Then what do you propose we should do Den? I think your answer might be better than the answers of your fellow brother and sister."

Aslaug and Eitri took offense to that.

"Hey! What's a few missing limbs for the betterment of our people!"

"Honestly, I didn't think my plan all the way through."

Den thought about it. As he was preparing to answer, his mind kept on reaching back to what Ito had said. He wondered if that suggestion would even be worth a shot.

Nevertheless, he took a chance.

"Alright, this may sound crazy but... what if we join forces with one of them and crush the other!"

His family stared at him for a bit and proceeded to fill the room with a roar of their laughter.

"Us! Join with one of them!"

"Hilarious!"

"Ah Den, I knew you were a funny one but whew!"

The Vikings continued their laughter until they noticed that Den wasn't joining in on the fun.

"Wait... you're serious?"

"Us teaming up with them?"

"Are you sure you're not joking?"

Den simply nodded as he continued on with his proposal.

"Like I said, it sounds a like a horrible idea but it just might be the only way to protect our clan. We're the only good fighters out here and who knows how long the reinforcements will take before they strike. Teaming up temporarily with one of them might be our only chance to confirm our survival."

Sigurd and the rest of his comrades thought about it and really couldn't argue against him. They were the only muscle and it would be a bit foolish to take on hordes of armies by themself.

"Very well. We will try out your plan Den but we'll have to be careful to who we offer the alliance to. Don't want to get stabbed in the back you know. Now all of you to your post, I have work to do."

The warlord said as Den and his allies quickly left the council room. It seems that Ito's proposition might actually take effect after all. Now all he had to do was persuade them to join the Sam-.

Poke!

"Ow!"

Den was pulled from his thoughts as he felt a sharp jab at his wounds. The culprit was none other than Aslaug as she continued her prodding

Poke! Poke!

"Stop or I will cut your hand off witch!"

"Not until you tell me where you got the new wounds. I don't remember seeing these before I aided you so spill it."

"I simply fell from a tree and landed on some hard rocks! Now leave me be!"

Aslaug begin to chuckle a bit until she poked him again with more force.

POKE!

"Argh!"

"That's for being a horrible liar. The gods have already told me what happened."

"Then why bother asking in the firs-"

Poke!

"Stop!"

"I'm asking the questions here. So what happened and I can tell if your lying."

"Eitri, I think it's best if you just tell us. We won't tell anyone else, I promise on my sword.

Den didn't feel like suffering another poke and Eitri did love his sword so he decided to explain himself.

"... Alright, I went out last night to meet up with a Shinobi and we both got attacked by a peacekeeper alon*with her grunts and soldiers. We made light work of the army and moved on towards the knight. I was still injured so the coward took advantage but the shinobi was able to deal with her just fine. We didn't kill her however because she retreated. Happy now you ear collector?"

Aslaug and Eitri both nodded as she poked him one more time.

"What was that for?!"

"For hiding your secret love for the shinobi. You scoundrel you."

"Am I expecting to be an uncle anytime soon Den?"

His two friends teased as Den tried to correct himself.

"Wha- I don't love her at all. She was simply there and we had a common enemy.. that's all."

"If you say so. Well, I have to get back to my hut. I'll see you two around." Aslaug said as she began to run towards her home.

"I also somewhere to be Den, May the gods give you strength."

"To you as well Eitri."

Den said as he gave Eitri the Viking handshake and the Highlander began to make his way towards his home. With the day out of the way and nonthing else to do, Den decided to head back to his hut. Inside of the hut was only the essentials that suited him. A bed, a stand for his clothes and weapons, and a sack of tools just in case.

However, there was something that wasn't in here before. A piece of bark with carvings on it. He slowly approached the material and examined it. The markings he saw formed a picture of a metal helmet. He was very confused but that quickly turned into panic as he felt a cold blade right at his neck. He guessed that the peacekeeper figured out where he lived and decided to ambush him. Den wasn't going to give his potential killer any fear of dying.

"What are you waiting for coward? Finish it."

The end of his life never came as he stood there waiting for the inevitable strike. The blow never came and his panic turned back into confusion as he heard giggles coming from his assailant.

"Rebellious like always my sweet boar.~"

The assailant said as she planted a kiss right on his cheek. Dens confusion turned into frustration as he quickly turned around towards Ito who wore her familiar shroud.

"What are you doing here!? This is my clans territory! You'll get killed if they find you here!"

"Worried about me like usual. You're so sweet.~"

"What's the reason for your presence anyway?"

"Simple, I've been moving through the woods and an outpost for the knights showed up not too far from here. It has a good amount of food and supplies and no real threats outside of grunts and soldiers.?"

"And you're telling me this why?"

"Well... I was wondering if my amazing partner would like to assist me?"

"I'm not your partner. I'm simply allowing you to live until I find it in my heart to slay you. And why don't you just get the supplies yourself Demon?"

"Because it would be boring and take a long time. And we can both get supplies for our clan so why pass this opportunity up?"

She had a point. The Viking clan was running a bit low on foodstuff and other essential items. This might be a good thing if he joins her and he might get a better understanding of her. He stood there staring again at her green eyes as she teased him again.

"You know, you can look at me more if you join me.~"

Den decided to ignore that statement no matter how true it was and simply accepted the request.

"Alright, I'll join you. But only for the sake of my clan."

Ito ran up and embraced him as he finally gave his answer. Den was a bit shocked but didn't push her away. It felt...nice to him.

"It's a date then. I'll see you at our spot my lovely boar.~"

"Wait! What about this picture?"

His question was never answered as she quickly vanished from his sight. It seems that every time he interacts with her, he just gets more questions about her.

He went to prepare for the night. It's been a while since he's raided anything so what better time than now to brush up on it. He decided to keep the picture close as he went to gather his things for the mission.

As he gathered everything, he continued to question himself on his motives on why he hasn't killed her or cut off his interactions with her. He brushed it off as simple mercy as he made his way towards the spot.

There was no way he felt anything towards that Ito. They both have a similar goal for now and everything will go back to normal when the goal is reached. Then finally they will finish what they started.

He kept that way of thinking as he left out towards their spot.

Again... Really sorry that you guys had to wait for this one. So in exchange I might make these chapter longer or something. I appreciate all of you who are reading this story, you're amazing :). See you in the next one my guys.